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I just hope the lads enjoy it, it's a big occasion for a lot of these guys, just go out, play your patterns and have some fun, because loooking at Saracens side I expect nothing from this. So yeah just have some fun and give it a crack.

Credit to all the Falcons fans out there now. Give an extra shout for me.

falconsfan07I just hope the lads enjoy it, it's a big occasion for a lot of these guys, just go out, play your patterns and have some fun, because loooking at Saracens side I expect nothing from this. So yeah just have some fun and give it a crack.
Credit to all the Falcons fans out there now. Give an extra shout for me.

FF07 - one of our West Standers is out there! Sadly not I. Keep an eye out for our 4 falcon flag combo with a chequered flag attached. The yanks are gonna love it - it's a big'n!

From a Saracens fan, falcons have some very dangerous players in that squad, your confidence must be sky high, it's in a neutral venue, anything can happen, here's hoping for a positive impact and s good game, safe travels to those who have gone and may the best team win

falconsfan07I just hope the lads enjoy it, it's a big occasion for a lot of these guys, just go out, play your patterns and have some fun, because loooking at Saracens side I expect nothing from this. So yeah just have some fun and give it a crack.
Credit to all the Falcons fans out there now. Give an extra shout for me.

FF07 - one of our West Standers is out there! Sadly not I. Keep an eye out for our 4 falcon flag combo with a chequered flag attached. The yanks are gonna love it - it's a big'n!

Seany_Boy0511From a Saracens fan, falcons have some very dangerous players in that squad, your confidence must be sky high, it's in a neutral venue, anything can happen, here's hoping for a positive impact and s good game, safe travels to those who have gone and may the best team win

you can keep your best team winning theory, I just want the Falcons to win

Good to see a bit of continuity from the Falcons, injuries or not. Looking forward to seeing Goneva in action from the start.
But, as mentioned, that is a hell of a Saracens side, and pretty much their first choice fifteen, going to be a really really tough game to get a result, but looking forward to seeing how far we have really come along.

Sarries didn't start with such a strong team against Bath. Farrell only played the last few minutes if not mistaken and Billy Vunipola wasn't even in the team. Just those two add 25% to that Sarries team imo.

lizard118Sarries didn't start with such a strong team against Bath. Farrell only played the last few minutes if not mistaken and Billy Vunipola wasn't even in the team. Just those two add 25% to that Sarries team imo.

Two absolutely world-class players there, to add to an already fantastic team.

Still, our team looks good too so we should be able to give Saracens a pretty good game, and in a 'cup final' scenario, who knows what might happen?

[youtu.be]
This is the sort of rugby I want to see us playing tonight.
Play at pace like this then I think at least a losing bonus point can come our way.
I just wonder how fit Vunipola is? I can see him running out of juice due to lack of match fitness.
Quite looking forward to it, actually.
This game no dissing Sale and Worcester, will give us an accurate measurement of where we are as a team.
Challenges don't come harder than Sarries and Exeter as far as the AP is concerned, imo. Imagine the belief generated IF we won. I'd say the boys have arrived!

Dam hot over here in Philly. Had a choice of driving from London to watch the game at KP or fly to the States. I took the easy journey and booked a late flight. Come on you Falcons. And of course "Have a nice day"

I'd like to see us really try and take the ball to them a bit more. We're defending well, but we're putting ourselves under a lot of pressure. We'll concede more next half if we don't change it a little bit ....and I'm aware we're playing a top class side in Saracens.

GeordieFalconPenalty try and yellow card!!!! Are you kidding me Doyle!!!! Never in a million years!

He really is a "Doyle" for that. Goneva put his two hands out to catch it, no where near a deliberate knock down. Mind you, apart from that I think he's had a good game, we haven't threatened sarries at all errrrr cause we can't keep hold of the ball.

We've made too many schoolboy errors in dangerous positions. Agree with GF we haven't tested Sarries at all.

At 7-7 we looked competitive but just fallen away. And I don't think Sarries have been that good. We've basically gifted them the points.
These are the sort of games we could've done with the likes of Flood just to change things a little.

Saracens were poor today, we (Sarries) were lucky that falcons were ill disciplined otherwise that could have been a completely different scoreline!maybe the whole fiasco of playing in America caused the issues, Falcons will no doubt improve and be a threat through out the season, very strong team you have and when Flood returns to add his experience you'll be in or around the top 6 come May, also I think Goneva was unlucky, very harsh call for JP Doyle there, best of luck for the rest of the season,

Matavesi had his best game so far, tought he looked good in defence and going forward in the limited opportunities. However I do understand the calls for Socino to be reinstated at 12. I'm sure he will get his call soon.

Frustrating game to watch. Silly penalties were the death of us. We clearly weren't confident with our handling and kept kicking away, understandable in the circumstances, yet no kick chase pressure was applied. This has been an issue for a long time. Overall disappointing and we now have our third away game in a row next week at Bath (no one could suggest that was a home game).

That was a very strong Sarries team and we denied them a bonus point. It could have been so much worse. All credit to the lads for a fantastic defensive effort, and what a fantastic experience for players such as Hammersley, Joel & Robinson. I would struggle to imagine that we would have taken any more from this game had it been played at KP, so let's move on to Bath, hopefully with some fresh players to give a rest to those who maybe need a week off after the adventure, and see if we can nudge a bit further up the table.

Sarries had a side out that has won the last two European Champions Cup. They are a great team and had about six Lions playing last night but we gave them a tough game and our defence was superb.

JP Doyle was poor again, his folksy first name chats with the Sarries England stars is wrong headed and a misplaced imitation of the great Nigel Owens. Even though we gave some penalties away under pressure, the 12-5 penalty count against us in no way reflected the offending which was pretty much 50/50. On top of that giving a penalty try and a yellow card for Goneva's attempted two handed interception was a terrible decision.

Sarries deserved their victory and it was great to see Billy V back looking fresh and lasting 80 minutes. I don't think our American adventure has done us any harm and can't wait for our lads to get stuck into Bath.

CantabrianSarries had a side out that has won the last two European Champions Cup. They are a great team and had about six Lions playing last night but we gave them a tough game and our defence was superb.
JP Doyle was poor again, his folksy first name chats with the Sarries England stars is wrong headed and a misplaced imitation of the great Nigel Owens. Even though we gave some penalties away under pressure, the 12-5 penalty count against us in no way reflected the offending which was pretty much 50/50. On top of that giving a penalty try and a yellow card for Goneva's attempted two handed interception was a terrible decision.

Sarries deserved their victory and it was great to see Billy V back looking fresh and lasting 80 minutes. I don't think our American adventure has done us any harm and can't wait for our lads to get stuck into Bath.

If Goneva's attempt had come off he would have been off down the pitch as a hero, but if you try that right on the try line you will risk a penalty try, and in the circumstances although it seems harsh I don't think Doyle had any choice.

I usually like Doyle but he was loving himself yesterday, and yes the commentators wore worshiping him a bit too much too. As for the grass, you'd think they had never seen the stuff before. Unless I was missing something it was just grass.

At least we were beaten by a Sarries team that were actually a pleasure to watch. Some of the attacking phases were sublime, and to see our lads coping with it was a pleasure too.

Thanks for the comments Squawker, maybe see you at AP, still not made it there yet so hope to put that right soon.

In better news, our defence has taken leaps forward- only 3 tries conceded (1 of them v Wuss was utter rubbish by TMO, as well as the dodgy penalty try-I think goneva wasn't really trying to catch the ball, but it hit him in the face. So he actually should have been allowed to pick it up and run).

The negatives- Hodgson again has shown he can't control a game, and can't run a backline against above average defences. Can't wait to see Flood in. Basic skills were dreadful for the 2nd game running.

Saracens were just too intense in their defence yesterday. I do think Sarries deserves to win 100% but let's be honest there were some pretty soft penalties given by JP Doyle. No way were they worth that lead in 3 pointers. Our defence has markedly improved which is good to see, the ball coming off Goneva's head would perhaps indicate that they shouldn't have been given a penalty try so really we've conceded 2 tries in 3 games.

I think sinoti was a liability in defence positional-wise, he seemed to be on the other side of the pitch half the time they were attacking down his channel. I'd start agulla over him next week if Tait is still missing.

All in all an expected result but can offer a reality check for the rest of the season.

It did make me smile when we were penalised for kicking the ball in the ruck yet Mako was only given a warning earlier for the same offence. To be fair they were playing advantage but he allowed play to continue despite that.

NorfolkFalconIt did make me smile when we were penalised for kicking the ball in the ruck yet Mako was only given a warning earlier for the same offence. To be fair they were playing advantage but he allowed play to continue despite that.

It didn't make me smile.

We were penalised and punished. Mako was allowed to get away with it.
Regardless of the advantage being played it showed a two tier strategy

ok now that the america weekend is over and all round three matches are done lets look at things.
Falcons are 4th in the table 2 points from top.
money in the bank (hope the kp development goes ahead)
great team bonding trip if nothing else for the squad.
we still have players to come back who strengthen the team.
defence was awesome

Just sitting and reflecting before leaving the hotel here in Philly. I think the decision to get involved in this exercise was pragmatic and sound, if (when?) it takes off, the club can only benefit from a growing wave of awareness and participation over here. The travelling contingent have done a great job to ensure the club will held in high regard by US rugby, thanks in no small part to the efforts of those who spent the week coaching kids and their coaches across the wider region.
My US mates already want to come to KP for a game.

As far as the game goes, no-one should under-estimate the effect of the conditions - the humidity meant that the ball often didn't stick. It was a hard day at the office for all teams on the park. The penalty try shouldn't have been awarded - the ball came off Niki's head so he should have been allowed to carry on and score under the posts, making the score 14-22. In addition, one of Farrell's kicks looked like it drifted wide, so 14-19 would have given us the bonus point I think we deserved.

It's been an interesting weekend and perhaps Smithy can produce a full write-up explaining the positives and the possible longer term benefits.

The only tackle made was Sin Sin on the sarries blind side winger who was the extra man in the move.

How was he the extra man? Our blind side winger was still inside the 15 metre line out line on the ring side of the field when they scored.

John Wells had better be looking at it.
At first I thought it was our full back not making a nuisance of himself but he was left with a two on 1 because our openside winger had to commit and take the extra man.

OneforthefatboysWe lacked ball carrying power, I d rather see latu 7 Wilson 6 fonua 8. I m not sure what the coaches see in Sean Robinson. Personally I think that witty cavubati and Olmstead are way better

Robinson has bags of energy and is like having an extra openside flanker. Obviously not as heavyweight as the others you mention but I think Robinson is about work rate and making a nuisance of himself.
Unfortunately, he hasn't been helped by a succession of injuries. But two years ago Robinson was getting glowing reports, until a spell of injuries.I personally rate him as he brings something different to the players you mentioned. He very much reminds me of Tom Croft. Obviously he's lighter to lift come lineout time too.

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